Carpets are comprised of a soft woven pile material (i.e, strands of fabric with a surface of upright yarns) which is adhesively bounded to a relatively stiff backing material. When laying a carpet on a floor, a resilient pad if often first placed over the area of the floor which the carpet is to be laid. The carpet is then positioned and laid upon the pad such that the backing material is in contact with the pad and the pile material is facing upward. When an article of furniture is laid on the carpet for a period of time, the pile and backing material of the carpet and the underlying pad become deformed thereby resulting the degradation of the carpet and pad.